Job 4
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
Wasephendula u-Elifazi umThemani wathi:
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be wearied? Yet who can keep from speaking?
“Nxa umuntu angaphosa ilizwi nje kuwe uzacunuka na? Kodwa ngubani ongathula angakhulumi na?
3 Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
Khumbula ukuthi sewabafundisa njani abanengi, ukuthi ubaqinise njani abalezandla ezibuthakathaka.
4 Your words have steadied those who stumbled; you have braced the knees that were buckling.
Amazwi akho abasekele labo abakhubekayo; uwaqinisile amadolo axegayo.
5 But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
Kodwa manje uhlupho luze kuwe, usuphela amandla; lukutshaya ubusudela ithemba.
6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
Kungani ukukholwa kwakho kungabi yiso isibindi sakho na lezindlela zakho ezimsulwa zibe lithemba lakho na?
7 Consider now, I plead: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Or where have the upright been destroyed?
Khumbula manje: Ngubani owathi engelacala wabhubha na? Kungaphi lapho abaqotho abake babhujiswa khona na?
8 As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
Ngokubona kwami labo abalima okubi lalabo abahlanyela ububi bavuna bona.
9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
Ngokuphefumula kukaNkulunkulu bayabhubha; ngokukhwaza kolaka lwakhe bayafa.
10 The lion may roar, and the fierce lion may growl, yet the teeth of the young lions are broken.
Izilwane zingabhonga zihwabhe, kodwa amazinyo ezilwane ezinkulu ayephuka.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Isilwane siyafa ngokuswela ukudla besekuthi imidlwane yesilwanekazi ihlakazeke.
12 Now a word came to me secretly; my ears caught a whisper of it.
Kulethwe ilizwi kimi ngasese, indlebe zami zilizwile linyenyezwa.
13 In disquieting visions in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
Phakathi kwamaphupho adungayo ebusuku, lapho abantu belele obukabhuka,
14 fear and trembling came over me and made all my bones shudder.
ukwesaba lokuthuthumela kwangifikela kwenza wonke amathambo ami aqhaqhazela.
15 Then a spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body bristled.
Kwathi tshazi umoya emehlweni ami, wahlasimula umzimba wami lenwele zami zema.
16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form loomed before my eyes, and I heard a whispering voice:
Umoya lowo wema, kodwa kangikwazanga ukuthi kuyini. Kwakumi into phambi kwamehlo ami, ngasengisizwa ilizwi elihelezayo:
17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God, or a man more pure than his Maker?
‘Kambe umuntu angalunga ukwedlula uNkulunkulu na? Umuntu angahlanzeka kuloMenzi wakhe na?
18 If God puts no trust in His servants, and He charges His angels with error,
Nxa uNkulunkulu engazethembi izinceku zakhe, nxa ebeka izingilosi zakhe umlandu ngokona,
19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!
pho-ke kuzakuba njani kulabo abahlala ezindlini zodaka, ozisekelo zazo zisothulini, abahlifizeka lula njengenondo!
20 They are smashed to pieces from dawn to dusk; unnoticed, they perish forever.
Phakathi kokusa lokuhlwa bayabhidlizwa babe yizicucu; bengananzwa langubani, bayabhubha kokuphela.
21 Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
Izintambo zamatende abo kazidonswa na, bafe bengelalwazi?’”
